


Paper Stars and Train Rides

by Dal_Saje



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F, Fluff without Plot, Gay Panic, Tumblr Prompt, Weird Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:40:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29285433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dal_Saje/pseuds/Dal_Saje
Summary: Joohyun sees her make them in the station every morning and even though they don't talk to one another, she always gives her one.She's down to the 100th paper star and Joohyun figures it was time to finally talk to her.ORJoohyun having internal gay panics whenever she's given a paper star and loses her ability to speak
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Son Seungwan | Wendy
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	Paper Stars and Train Rides

**Author's Note:**

> Taken from this Tumblr prompt:  
> You make paper stars in the train and you give me one everytime I see you. I have a hundred now and to celebrate I think I should finally talk to you.

* * *

Joohyun takes a deep breath, wiping sweaty palms over the fabric of her jeans over and over until the skin hurts in certain places. She thinks this is better than her heart getting caught up in her throat and not having enough space for the words she wanted to say to flow through.

 _Way, way better_. 

This is crazy, since when did Bae Joohyun fret over something as simple as trying to say “hi”?

The train is always in a constant state of mumbled conversation from people that crowd it’s small, dingy spaces. It fills every known space with “hi’s” and “how was work?”, the usual “how are you’s” and every other type of conversation in between. Most days, it suffocates her. 

Joohyun used to hate her usual morning train rides over to work. Hated how it would always end up giving her headaches from the constant flow of noise around her that buzzed, the lights that the station insists on keeping inside even with the adequate supply of sunshine the whole of summer. Most of all she used to hate how it would somehow make her irritable, at the end of every commute.

Of course, used to. 

She plays with the sleeves of her shirt, mostly to keep herself from smiling over the memory. As much as that particular admission embarrassed her, she gives up eventually. Giving in to a small smile. It's instinctual now. A new force of habit she developed over the course of a couple of days, because if it wasn’t for that annoying blonde haired woman that always got on the same station as hers and got off a station earlier —she’d probably find herself rolling her eyes at every damn thing by now. 

Joohyun runs a hand through her hair, stealing a quick glance over the woman sitting right across. Doing the exact same thing she’s been doing for the past couple of months. 

Don’t ask how Joohyun knows, the woman isn’t entirely being subtle about it.

The woman looks up briefly, looking a little confused at the crowd around her. It tugs another smile out of Joohyun, and for some strange reason (which she should’ve been accustomed to by now) calms her long enough to get her hands to stop playing with the tips of her hair. 

She’s cute, okay?

She thinks again and again, trying to reason out with herself how it’s not rude to gawk at strangers when… she isn’t entirely a stranger to Joohyun at all. Does that make sense? No? It doesn’t stop Joohyun from stealing glances until the other girl finds Joohyun’s eyes among the packed crowd and gives her a small soft smile. 

It starts out slow. Little tingles that tickle the tips of Joohyun’s fingers and run along the length of her arms, up and up, until it reaches her heart where they become tiny explosions that fill her chest cavities with what she thinks a supernova would feel like… 

Shit, she's getting sappy —isn't she? 

She tries to cough the sensation away. Never fully understanding why that keeps on happening, what’s happening or even how? No, she knows how… remembers when this “how” started, clearly in her mind. Remember and know it by heart.

Joohyun wiggles in her seat, trying to keep herself from stealing glances again. It works for a while, content on watching a mother and daughter laughing at the view of trees outside. But, let's be perfectly honest here, it doesn’t last long until Joohyun moves to glance at her again. Studying how her bangs fall to touch the tips of her eyebrows and how it’s furrowed in concentration over a piece of colored paper in her hands.

Joohyun admits she’d rather look at anything right now. Anything and anywhere else but at the girl with blonde hair, kind eyes, and soft smile that sat opposite her because it keeps throwing her off balance and yet that makes perfect sense to her. Almost as if she’s convinced she should be thrown off-kilter because it somehow feels… right. 

It's the 100th day, and Joohyun figures it’s probably time to say "hi" to her. 

* * *

1

It was a humid summer morning and Joohyun can't help but let out a gruff groan at every little thing that seemed to annoy her. There was a sizable amount of people at the station despite it not being rush hour and she figured it’s probably because of summer vacation or people just have lots of places to go to during the summer. 

Whatever, right? The warm air filtered in, it was heavy and stuffy, and did nothing to help stop her from sweating. 

“God I need another shower.” Joohyun muttered under her breath as she tried to keep her mind from drifting off to corners that were bound to make her more irritable. She tried folding the sleeves of her t-shirt, keeping them short and allowing her skin to breathe and find a momentary relief from the damn heat.

She resorted to biting her lower lip, a bad habit that typically meant she’s bordering on being impatient. Of course who wouldn't be, right now. She glanced over at the giant clock overhead that counted the minutes, waiting for the train that got delayed by something she didn’t bother listening to. It took her a while, before she noticed fumbling hands and a foot that kept tapping out an invisible rhythm beside her.

Her short blonde hair was tied in a low ponytail and her bangs stuck to her forehead from sweat, Joohyun can’t help but notice her furrowed brows that peeked between the clumps of hair and the slow building smile on her lips as she continuously worked —no... the right word was, fumbled—with the colored piece of paper in her hands. She folded and unfolded and twisted and turned until the smile on her face bloomed. Joohyun didn’t realize she’d been staring that long until the other woman turned her attention towards her and winked. 

“It’s pretty hot, eh?” Her voice sounded as pretty as her. Sweet and free-flowing, and if Joohyun had enough sense in her jumbled up mind she would’ve answered something sarcastic back but something about the woman’s smile was disarmingly warm and all Joohyun could do was nod back even if she thinks the statement was stupid because duh, it was summer —when was summer not hot? 

“Here,” She held out a hand and out of impulse Joohyun reached out and held out her own, allowing the other woman to place a little paper star on her palm. “for you.”

This took Joohyun by surprise and before she could ask the why’s, the other woman had walked past her with a little subdued chuckle that warmed Joohyun’s cheeks as she boarded the train that settled on the railways and opened its doors to the morning commuters. 

* * *

Joohyun could see from the corner of her eyes that the other woman had put on earbuds and had her eyes closed as her head bobbed up and down along to whatever song she was listening to. She finds it endearing, seeing her mouth the lyrics in an overly enthusiastic way and Joohyun can’t help but let out a breath she’d been keeping inside her. Somewhat calming the little ripples in her chest that made the mere possibility of speaking rather hard. 

Maybe tomorrow? She thinks. Yeah, she can go and say “hi” tomorrow instead. 

She finds the thought to be so funny and absurd at the same time. She allows a small laugh to bubble over, earning her a glare from a man in a suit sitting beside her. Obviously her small laugh isn’t as small as she thought. 

Well…

* * *

9

It’s been nine days

Joohyun knows she’d be there in a couple of minutes. She wasn’t paying that much attention, she was merely stating a fact. Somehow the other woman seemed to always find a way to arrive at the station fifteen minutes before eight. Always. 

Just like clockwork Joohyun saw her tousled hair tucked in a cap amongst the crowd. Joohyun struggled with trying to look away, and tried to focus her gaze on a bunch of announcements she wasn't really reading on station walls instead. It wasn’t helping much at all, because today she had specs on and Joohyun finds a weird knot in her stomach that swirled and swirled and no amount of frowning was making it stop. 

She was a foot away, looking left and right before she stopped trying and her shoulders drooped. Joohyun thought the pout on her face was adorable and even though people were bustling here and there, and it usually irked her when they bumped against her in the process, she realized she doesn’t care one bit at the moment. Not when the woman locked gazes with her and waved. 

“I was looking all over for you.” The pout was back, as she shouted against the mumbling and haze of conversation that littered the packed station. “Here…” She reached over a child's head, saying a soft sorry along with an apologetic smile at the kid before she dropped a yellow colored paper star on Joohyun’s expectant hand. 

“Good morning.” If a smile had a color, Joohyun thinks hers was a sunflower yellow, enough to make the dark gray station morning burst into the same sunny morning the roof above them was hiding. 

Joohyun wanted to say good morning back but found the words stuck inside her chest and before she could find the voice to say them back, the woman was already running off towards the open train doors. 

* * *

15

By now, Joohyun was a little ashamed to admit she kept a glass jar on top of her bedside table that was slowly being filled with colorful little paper stars. It wasn’t like her at all and she found the thought of it a little too out of character, but hey the paper stars were pretty and it made her day a little brighter. 

Joohyun was getting accustomed to the stuffy heat that this summer was so intent on keeping, and she liked how the floral dress she wore made everything a little more bearable. She was beginning to get drowsy, eyelids fluttering. She didn’t get as much sleep as she hoped for, lately her nights were spent on admiring the fourteen little stars inside her jar, and the warmth was making it even more difficult to keep her eyelids from closing. 

“You look absolutely beautiful today.” Her voice was like silk and if Joohyun wasn’t too tired this morning she would’ve had the strength to say thank you and smile back, except the woman’s gentle smile was making it hard for Joohyun to concentrate. “Something to complement your lovely dress.” Out of habit Joohyun held out her palm and looked at the tiny green paper star drop onto it. 

Before she could wrack her groggy mind to action, Joohyun’s soft thank you got lost in the sea of murmurs and probably bounced off of the strange woman’s back as she made her way through the crowd and into the train. 

* * *

It’s almost 9:30 and Joohyun knows she’ll be off the train soon and out into wherever she’s headed to for the day; everyday. She takes another deep breath that fills her lungs with the scent of her favorite fabric conditioner and hopes that it’s enough to propel her to stand and take the empty seat beside the woman and say hi. 

Joohyun knows it’s a bit odd, could someone possibly choke over having too much to say and not knowing how to say them all at the same time? She never had any issues with striking up a conversation with someone she wants to talk to. Yet, here, she’s glued to her seat and feeling like jelly inside. All because of a woman with a beautiful smile and a gentle look on her eyes that insists on giving her daily paper stars.

* * *

20

Joohyun doesn’t know why she was extremely pissed off that day, It could have been the fact she woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or the fact that it was hotter today than it was the past few days, or if it was the extremely irritating flow of chatter all around her that seemed to grate on her nerves and made her temples twitch with a growing migraine that worked its way to make her morning even worse. 

The collar of her shirt stuck to the back of her neck, and she was close to going off at the next person that looked at her direction. She heard shuffling of feet beside her that made her draw a deep breath and turn to give whoever the unfortunate stranger was, her signature stoic glare when she faltered. 

“You seem to be in a pretty bad mood today, huh?” 

She was standing there in front of Joohyun, with a lopsided smile that fell between the fringes of looking awkward and worried, one hand inside the pocket of her shorts and the other fixing the collar of her white button up that managed to short-circuit Joohyun's brain. 

“Would this make your day a little better perhaps?” Joohyun heard the slight hesitance in her voice and it was enough to make her nod. This made the woman smile wide, pulling something from her pocket and on instinct Joohyun knew what would happen next. 

A lavender paper star fell on her clammy palms and when she looked up, the woman was already on her way towards the train. 

* * *

It was weird really, how Joohyun finds herself too caught up, admiring and studying the little details; the way her smile would end up from ear to ear and how as small as it may be some days it has the curious effect of turning things around. How she only ever realized on the thirty-second day that she has dimples that Joohyun wants to poke at, because she's drawn towards her puffy looking cheeks. And how, on certain days she’d slightly look away when the paper star dropped and how her steps looked more hurried whenever she walked away. 

* * *

33

Sometimes Joohyun thought about how it might be just a dream. Something her mind came up with to keep her sanity in check over her extreme annoyance at the heat but every night she’d take a quick look at the growing pile inside her glass jar and she's reminded that everything’s real. 

The train was delayed again and she figured if anything—now would be the perfect time to strike a conversation with the pretty stranger. She could only imagine what particular thoughts might’ve graced her mind when for thirty nine straight days she’d been giving Joohyun those beautiful paper stars, Joohyun has yet to speak a single word back at her.

Joohyun was pulled from her thoughts when she saw the familiar Manchester U cap among the crowd and finds it an annoying habit she can’t seem to shake off; watching her stop on the station stairs and find her fumbling over a blue piece of paper, resuming to walk only when she was done. 

Just say hi and ask why she’s going through so much trouble making all these little stars every morning. 

Except she didn't. 

Not when she saw the flustered smile, heard the hasty good morning and her usual hope you’ll have a wonderful day today. Saw the star on her palm and her retreating figure going against bodies till she reached the front of the line and all Joohyun could think of was, shit. 

* * *

Joohyun won’t lie that she still considers the thought that she's indeed just a product of her imagination, but every time her mind drifts off to that possibility, she’s provided with more and more evidence that the woman exists.

Especially now. 

Joohyun melts a little. The woman gives the child beside her funny faces, and something about it makes Joohyun's heart quiver. She hears her laughter and it drapes around Joohyun like a warm blanket. She finds herself chuckling along as the woman laughs whenever the kid would make funny faces back at her. Joohyun finds the same swirls from her stomach working their way to her chest, and it makes Joohyun laugh entirely. Not really minding the annoying way the man beside her was taking up more space than he should. 

No, nothing bad today can take away the budding little spark of happiness that's swirling in her chest.

* * *

44

Summer was reaching its peak and there were fewer people in the station, most of which opted to take taxis to avoid the crowd and the unnecessary heat. Joohyun was considering the same thing, and internally groaned at choosing not to —just cause, she didn’t want to miss out on seeing her and getting another paper star. 

What is it with her and stars anyway? What is it with her to begin with? 

Joohyun dabbed on her nose with a handkerchief.

“Hey…” 

Her voice felt cool and if Joohyun wasn’t too stuck at keeping herself from staring at hazel eyes that looked like hot chocolate whenever light hit it, she would've had the sense to say hey back. 

“You should bring water along," she grinned, deepening the dimples on both sides of her cheeks, "It’s getting hotter and hotter each day.” Joohyun nodded along, lost in the browns of her eyes and the lilt in her voice. 

This was the longest… conversation? Was it considered one? When only one party was doing the talking and the other one staring stupidly at how beautiful she looked with wide rimmed glasses. Yeah, fuck it. It's the longest conversation they’ve had and all Joohyun could do was smile awkwardly and shrug her shoulders. 

“Oh, uhh…" Joohyun leaned closer, her voice was deeper today and the darker undertones were addicting. Like those evening ballads on radio stations that she'd like to hear over and over again. "Here. I figured this color was cooler and y'know, not as warm looking as the rest. So maybe it'll help with cooling things down a bit? I hope? Or maybe not? I—uh, have no idea what I'm saying right now," she ran her fingers through her hair and it almost made Joohyun visibly gulp, "but yeah... Have a good one, okay?” 

She reached out and for the first time in almost two months that they've shared the same space together, their hands grazed and Joohyun found herself wondering about the weird flips her heart was making that made her cheeks burn. 

Joohyun didn't wait for the woman to leave, beating her to it as she turned away and jogged towards the door, the woman’s laughter behind her making her chuckle. She felt silly and it felt great, and she didn't care about the people around her and their questioning eyes. 

All she cared about was a certain person with eyes that reminded her of hot cocoa. 

* * *

Joohyun has everything figured out when the jar was halfway filled—and she learns this the hard way.

The swirls, and the explosions, the tingles and the warmth. 

Joohyun realized she's in it too deep, and that there's no turning back from this point. 

* * *

51

Summer was dying down and Joohyun was feeling perkier than she'd ever been. Not because she knew a certain blonde-haired woman with the brightest smile would come along bringing another paper star any time soon, but because Autumn was almost here and the hot weather was soon coming to an end. 

She had earbuds on this time, something to drown out the noise around her and the perfect music to envelop her, and ensure the perkiness stayed for the remainder of the day. 

Joohyun forgot about certain paper stars and boarded the train, chose a seat by the door and her head against the rail. 

She saw a flurry of gray and looked up just in time to see a pink paper star falling on her lap and the woman's wink as she took the seat across Joohyun. She wanted to smile back, anything at this point to acknowledge how much she finds the paper star fiasco so amusing but finds more and more people scrambling inside. The only thing she could see was her hand and her watch between bodies and that made Joohyun feel far away despite being so close. 

* * *

It's just a silly old crush and yet Joohyun still finds herself too scared to walk up and say a bloody thank you for filling up her jar with stars that make the sleeping at night come easier and the anxiousness over a new day less and less prominent. 

She watches her, across the almost empty train and finds her looking back. Holding Joohyun's gaze and it was more than enough of a push for Joohyun to take a wobbly stand (more from embarrassment rather than the train moving) and walk towards her. 

Just say thank you, before she gets tired of making paper stars for you. 

* * *

67

Autumn was officially here and Joohyun had her favorite gray jacket on. Something to keep her just warm enough. She kept playing with the little flaps that cover the pockets and didn't realize the woman was standing beside her, giving her an amused smile. 

"You don't really like the hot weather, do you?" It was more of a whisper but loud enough for Joohyun that it made her jump and gave a surprised oh! 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she reached out and placed the star on Joohyun's outstretched palm, "That's a lovely jacket, it makes your eyes stand out more, and you have such pretty eyes." 

Joohyun's breath hitched and for the 67th time found herself grasping at words and not knowing what to say. Her words felt like a hug and Joohyun found herself mumbling something incoherent. The woman was smiling expectantly, and she wanted to kick herself for making her wait over nothing. Just because her brain decided to malfunction every time she looked at her. 

"Well, you take care." She whispered.

Joohyun groaned in frustration as she watched her walk away. 

* * *

Joohyun falls on the seat awkwardly beside her on the train and she finds the same hazel brown eyes looking more honeyed than it usually does and something beneath the gaze felt light. Light enough to calm the little jumbled up butterflies that made her chest their permanent home. 

"Hey," her voice is as soft as her eyes and Joohyun tries to breathe slowly, tries to even out the thump thump's in her chest. 

Enough for her to answer back a shaky "Hey to you too." 

The woman chuckles and it sends another wave of warmth all over Joohyun's body.

"Thank God, Hi…" she runs her hands through her hair, something about that gets Joohyun to smile wider, "my name's Seungwan." 

* * *

78

Just a quarter more and her glass jar would be filled. Joohyun found herself wondering late at night what all of this meant and if the woman would ever tire of folding and unfolding, twisting and turning little patches of colored paper into stars, someday. 

Joohyun found herself stealing little glances beside her to see if the woman was already there and finds disappointment after disappointment the closer the clock ticked its way to eight in the morning. 

Maybe she was right, about her already getting tired of giving someone who wasn't even talking to her stars everyday. 

Joohyun boarded the train with a heavy heart, and tried to keep her gaze fixed on the view of the railway walls outside the window. The train wasn't moving yet as the conductor called out for final passengers. 

She's taken out of her thoughts when she heard light panting in front of her that made her look up. 

"Woooh, it's uh… a ...a good thing I was able to catch the train…" She was catching her breath and breathing out the words in between as she held on the rail, a couple of inches away from Joohyun. "good… morning." She fumbled inside her pocket, "I uh… here… for today." A peach star tumbled from her grasp and into Joohyun's palm. 

"You should… uh… smile more." 

Joohyun was a bit taken aback by the statement and wanted to ask more except she found herself voiceless. She was getting tired and frustrated of it, enough to have her bite the inside of her cheeks. She settled on nodding instead and found the woman's attention was no longer on her but on the people in front of her. 

* * *

_Seungwan_ … 

She rolls the name again and again inside her mouth, trying to allow herself to get accustomed to the name. 

"Joo—Joohyun." 

Great, she was fucking stuttering… smooth Joohyun… smooth 

"It's nice to finally have a name to the face." She's chuckling and it makes Joohyun grin. "It's even nicer to see you smile like that." 

A weird silence falls between them, before Joohyun finds her voice again. 

"Yours is prettier." 

"Huh?" 

"Your smile… it's uh, prettier." 

This time Seungwan laughs, and Joohyun finds the same laughter bubbling over, sending delicious waves of tingles to the tips of her nose. 

"Yeah? Well… it's the least I could do" She lowers her voice to a whisper, like she's sharing a secret "It's my way of saying thank you to a stranger who refuses to talk to me but still manages to make my day you know?" 

* * *

81

Okay, she probably thinks you're a weirdo. Who wouldn't? When all Joohyun did was nod and smile back awkwardly whenever she tried to make small talk, and smiled and gave her her daily dose of happiness in the form of a paper star. 

She stopped beside Joohyun. Brows furrowed in folding the final touches to the star and handing it out with a tired looking smile. 

"Here." 

Was all Joohyun heard from her that day as she walked towards the open train doors. 

* * *

"I wasn't…" 

"I know, I was just teasing you silly. I realized I like your laugh too." 

Joohyun finds the same warmth creeping up to her cheeks and her eyes looking away. Not because she's shy, but because Seungwan's gaze is heavy with an emotion Joohyun can't read. 

"I like yours too…" she whispers back. 

"You do?" 

Joohyun nods, taking a deep breath. 

"Why were you giving me all those paper stars?" 

Seungwan looks back at her and smiles. Joohyun finds herself melting inside. 

"Well… Hyunnie…"

* * *

99

Joohyun thinks now should be the time, scratch that, it's more like— it's now or never. It was either she said something or hit herself on the head for being such an awkward dumbass and Bae Joohyun was no awkward dumbass. 

She strode just in time to take Joohyun away from her drowning thoughts and squashed every sense of fear and panic with her smile. 

"I hope I'm not scaring or weirding you out with all these stars…" 

Joohyun found herself almost choking on the answer. 

"Forget it…" she laughed awkwardly, and gave Joohyun a sad look. "I'm really sorry for invading your space every morning. I just —" she shook her head, "never mind… see you again,I guess?" 

She dropped the blue star gently on Joohyun's palm and walked away. 

* * *

Joohyun's heart jumps at the nickname and she finds herself smiling widely at Seungwan who sees the change in Joohyun's demeanor, chuckling. Her nose scrunching adorably before continuing. "It's for a daily wish… that you always have the best of days every day. My own little way of wishing nothing but the best for you." 

Joohyun knows she's blushing and she finally understands the look on Seungwan's eyes. It's the same truth she's keeping inside her. 

Out of impulse she reaches out and places a quick kiss on Seungwan's cheeks. Her own way of saying thank you. 

"Thank you." 

"Would you...uh, would you like to go grab some hot chocolate with me sometime? I can uh,make you more of those stars…" 

Joohyun finds a flustered Seungwan even more adorable. 

"I'd love to."

"That's great."

"I'm glad I finally talked to you." 

"Yeah, took you what? A hundred paper stars to do so?" 

Seungwan whines and she's laughing, and she thinks this is perfect. Thinking about the hundred paper stars and how it always finds a way to draw her towards Seungwan. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya, I'm new to the fandom and ship. 
> 
> Hope everyone's having a nice day or evening and that everyone's staying safe. 
> 
> This is a converted Jenlisa fic from my main ao3 account but I think it's cute for Wenrene too.


End file.
